USING THE STONE GRADER

[fboreale]

 Greetings to all,
I am a new member to this forum and a new owner of the big green machine,Received it as a gift,I have been using water stones for years on chisel and plane irons w/very sharp result,But getting alittle tired of always having to fatten the stones in the middle of sharpping,I have had the tormek about a week  now,used it once to try it out, Sharpen a very badly nicked chisel(I mean this chisel was a mess) that i would not have tryed to sharpen even on 240 grit stones,It would have taken forever to get the nicks out,From machine set up to finished chisel it took maybe 20 mins and it work perfect,Shaving hair perfect,On gradeing the stone to 1000 grit the stone grader started to dish,My question Re:The stone grader,In the FAQ on Yahoo site is says that the stone would become dished w/use and it needs to be fatten,(How would you flatten that stone anyway)On the sharptools USA site Jeff says he uses the stone on each end to increase the life of the stone,He also says that when the stone starts to dish it will work better,Am i missing something, What is the correct way to use the stone grader,Do you hold it in the middle,On the ends,Do you tilt it down and use the edge ,I seem to get everything to work right,I can get the black marks out after grinding,And changing grits works also,But the stone is starting to dish,To dish or not to dish,That is the question?Any help
Thanks
FRED BOREALE
 

[Jeff Farris]

Really, it is not a big deal if you get the stone grader concave.  It really will work better.

You will get double the life from the grader if you use the two extreme ends of the smooth side, keeping the heel of your palm centered over the stone and using a slight side to side motion.  You are more likely to "crown" your stone if you work in the center.

The corner of the smooth side is not very effective.  However, I use the corner of the coarse side to more aggressively open up the stone surface.